Without officials, there<BR>would be no prep sports

Published: March 11, 2002 12:00 AM

How many people enjoy being ridiculed, scrutinized and second-guessed?

And on top of that, how many people would take that kind of abuse at work?

Thankfully for high school sports, officials and referees alike are willing to put themselves under the microscope and find a way to ignore the crude comments.

"You have to have pretty thick skin," said Steve Zarlengo, a wrestling official of 20 years. "We lose a lot of guys early because they can't handle the crap from the coaches and the belligerent junk from the fans. It's amazing how many guys really do get out of it early on.

"But I'll always remember a quote from a friend of mine who I officiate with," added Zarlengo, who was a wrestling coach at Triway from the mid-70s to the early 80s. "He was doing a match one time and the fans and coaches started getting obnoxious. So he stopped the match and told the crowd, 'the kids have to be here and I have to be here, but you don't have to be here.'"

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That is the absolute truth, as without the people in the white and black-striped shirts, high school athletics could never get off the ground.

"I'll tell you what, there is no athletic director who feels calm and content until every official has arrived. Because without officials, you don't have an event," said Orrville athletic director Kent Smith. "They are very much under-appreciated. What people don't realize is they are essential to high school sports.

"High school athletics are a fabric of peoples' lives in Wayne County, and a lot of people take it for granted that the officials are always there, ready to do their jobs."

Getting started

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Without covering all the sports, let's look at how wrestling and basketball officials earn their credentials.

For wrestling, an interested person would send an inquiry and application to the Ohio High School Athletic Association. If the state was interested, it would send a rule book back and inform him/her to read it carefully and join a local official's association. Once there, a person must take a test to become eligible to do matches. If they passed, they would likely start at the junior high level and work their way up to varsity status. To work state-sanctioned events, like sectional, district or state tournaments, a wrestling official must take another test to become licensed.

"It's an endurance run," joked Zarlengo. "It is a close bond once you get there, though. Especially with the wrestling officials. ... That tight-nit group, that would defend each other to the hilt, is what makes it great."

For basketball, an official must first take a course of approximately 28 hours, after which they will take a test on the rules, regulations, etc. If they are successful, they will start at the junior high and freshmen levels, where they will remain for 2-3 years. After that, they will take another class and another test to see if they are worthy of varsity officiating status.

"The test is not too difficult at all," said basketball official Tom Weckesser. "Someone who enjoys the sport and the studies (the rule book) can become an official with a little bit of work. It really is a great opportunity to make a difference.

"It is very rewarding. When you know you went out and did a good job -- nobody does a perfect job -- you get a natural high."

Getting placed

Most schools that are in a league or conference have a commissioner who schedules the allotted number of varsity officials for each sporting event. Outside of that, for such things as junior high, freshman or junior varsity events, it is the athletic director's responsibility to get hold of officials and pencil them in.

Most schools have a list of "approved" officials who are worthy of working a specific level of contest. Coaches at some schools add and subtract names from that list. In non-league games, it is always the home team's obligation to schedule the refs.

"I have all our officials hired for next year and almost all of them scheduled for '03-04," Smith said. "I can't emphasize enough that they're not important -- they're essential.

"It's nothing for them to drive an hour and a half for a varsity game," Smith added. "It's just amazing that they take so much criticism and verbal abuse, yet they keep coming back."

For the love

You hear it all the time, but for officials, it's true. They don't do what they do for the money, they do it because they love the game and the kids.

"Anybody who does it for the money is a fool," said Wooster High athletic director Chuck Cooper. "They do it for the love of the game and for a variety of other reasons. They normally do it because they genuinely care."

Zarlengo agreed.

"Sometimes I end up spending more money than I make when I go to a weekend tournament," he said. "I could be flipping burgers and make more money than I do. It's obvious we do it for the kids, not for the money."

On both sides

Not all officials started out whistling coaches, some were coaches yelling at officials, including Weckesser, who spent 19 years as a coach, 17 of those as a varsity head coach.

"It's pretty interesting," said Weckesser, who has had boys basketball coaching jobs at Smithville (1977-81) and Northwest (1981-85), while also coaching girls hoops at Smithville from 1987-95. "I see both perspectives, obviously, and it's enjoyable. It is an emotional game and it's perfectly natural for coaches and players to get excited. I am able to recognize that to a certain extent.

"When you're coaching, you have everything pent up inside of you, and you can't just sit there like a robot. You have to do a little yelling and screaming," added Weckesser, an official of five years. "The key is for the coaches, players and officials to try and keep their poise and composure. That alone is one of the best lessons in sports."

There can come a point, however, when too much is too much.

"They do step over the line when they start using profanity or if they get disrespectful. I think that goes for everybody -- coaches, officials, players, and no doubt, I can include the fans," Weckesser said. "It really helps when coaches and officials try to understand each other. Hopefully, we'll continue to try and do that."

Help wanted

With the continued verbal abuse from both fans and players, it is a wonder why anyone would like to become an official. The continued drop in numbers is proof of that, as athletic directors and league commissioners have been left scrambling to find officiating help.

"We need more wrestling officials. We need them bad," Zarlengo said. "I keep getting calls from people needing another guy, and I feel bad that I'm already booked for next year."

"We need officials in every single sport. It's funny to say, but of all the sports, basketball does have the most," said Ron Dessecker, secretary of the Wayne County Officials Association. "We actually had enough officials before girls sports started, something like 20 years ago. Now it's difficult to find enough people to help with the seventh and eighth grade girls games, the freshman girls games and the junior varsity girls games."

Still, the idea of being an official at all, is a concern to Dessecker.

"I don't know why anyone would want to do it, but we need 'em and there are always positions available," he said.